The lyrics are not reflective of this year, nor this senior class…but the title of the song most definitely is. It goes without saying (at least I hope it does) that I would, indeed, do “anything for you.” For all of you, not just the senior class. And while what follows is geared toward the 61 men and women who will take the field on Saturday one last time as a member of the “baby band,” I suspect whatever prose created below will resonant with whomever the Reader is.

There is a place called ‘band.’ It is unlike any other experience one can have in life–it is unique. I make this statement not out of ego, not out of pride, but out of years of experiencing many other organizations available to the human being. Band is dependent upon each and every individual giving 100% effort 100% of the time.

It is the grueling week of Band Camp when the newest family learns to work together, support each other, celebrate each other. It is the challenge of last minute changes to schedules that teaches the family to be flexible. It is the unexpected event (weather, bus flat tire, late lunch or dinner) that teaches the family patience and understanding.

But it is not these things you will remember next year, in 5 years, in 10 years, in 30 years. It will not be the heat, the cold, the rain, the snow. It will not be my voice letting everyone in Newark know you need to “Set it up Uh-GAIN!” (ok…maybe that one will be remembered…virtually scarred into your memory banks.) What you will remember will be the smiles, the laughter, the tears of joy, the memories of audiences clapping, screaming, dancing and cheering. It will be the memories of every performance you share with the latest “baby band” when YOU return and partake in Alumni Band at my 21st, 25th, 30th, 35th (gulp) anniversary, and all the ones in between the milestone years. You will return to reunite with old friends and begin every sentence with “Remember when…”

I would…and in many cases have done “anything for you.” You are my family and on Saturday 61 family members will relive the last few years of their lives one last time. Because of this I propose the following list of things to do over the course of the next few days because you will never be able to do all of them on Saturday…and because underneath the tough exterior that the “outsider” sees and thinks is the real me, I’m really a sentimental woman who, as I said to the seniors this evening, is far better at conveying her true feelings in the written word than face to face:

Go to the practice field at sunset on a non-rehearsal day. Sit on the hill and simply be.

Go to the stadium at dawn or at sunset, when the sun is low in the sky and the complex is empty and simply be.

Walk the Team Walk without the band. Before going through the serpentine wall gate, turn around, look back and simply be.

If the stadium is open, sit in the band seats and simply be.

Take your time putting your uniform on–remember the first time you did it, savory the last.

I could go on but I believe you get the idea. Take time to look within yourself and know one thing—you did good. And know that I am proud of each and everyone of you.

…oh, and seniors? “September: Beginnings and Endings”– perhaps you now understand that show for it was so much more than the literal meaning…so very much more.

It has been MONTHS since I took the time to post here and I’m not all that sure why. There were many times I had this particular post running around in my cluttered mind but simply didn’t make the time. Hmmm…that is unacceptable for me. I will attempt to be better at my communication….until the calendar starts to fill up again. 🙂

The holiday season has come and gone and I was struck by how many people were “chatting” about all the things they were thankful for. What struck me was the number of posts that addressed the present and future but very little about the past. I found that interesting. Now, don’t get me wrong–I’m BEYOND grateful for all the wonderful people currently in my life and the wonderful things I am experiencing. Thankful simply doesn’t come close to how I feel about all I have. But I also know that if it weren’t for all that came before (people and experiences) I would NEVER be where I am today!

We are all a composite of everyone who has crossed our paths–the “big” people in our lives (family members, teachers, role models, etc.) and the “little” people in our lives (the stock boy at the supermarket, the front desk manager at the hotel, the man who held the door for you at WaWa, etc.). Every person and every event you’ve ever encountered and experienced had an impact on WHO you’ve become!

…when you stop to think about that it quickly becomes overwhelming…

So as I sit here in a hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with the balcony door open and the salt air coming into the room, enjoying nice cup of coffee and getting ready work with the Bowl Games of America All-Star Band and the high school bands joining us for a massed band finale with the Miami Sound Machine at the BCS National Title Game I want to give a “shout out” to the people who contributed to this crazy person my students call SARV—

Mom and Dad;

The Basses, Sarvers, Dinbarts, and Hoffmans (and all the other family extensions!);

All those who understood that my trumpet was always in my possession and band was life whether they “got it” or not;

My friends in college who did (and still do) “get it;”

All the Reading Bucs and other drum corps folks;

My past colleagues who shared the same dream–becoming a college band director or music professor–but for their own reasons chose different paths;

Former students who shaped all the programs I’ve ever been part of;

And this could go on forever–it is infinite.

For me it is simple: we are who we are because of those who have come in and out of our lives. They have all left their mark upon our lives. But there is one particular group of people I wish to address that is not necessarily of the traditional listing, my predecessors.

**My predecessors, most recently J. Robert King, David Blackington, Robert Streckfuss and Alan Hamant. Some of you I know, some of you I’ve never met. But because of YOU I have been able to do what I have done at UD. Each of you has carved part of the path, ultimately passing the keys for the bulldozer to your successor, just as I will do one day. The path before me is unpaved, raw, and in some ways, unknown. The bulldozer, however sits idling on a paved surface–you have to remember to look BEHIND you to see the paved road others created before you took over the controls.

So often people begin a new position (just as I did 18 years ago) and approach it from a position of “the world begins with me.” This is NOT true. No matter how hard one tries to deny the past, what came before you DID exist. You cannot erase it–ever. All you are going to do is leave YOUR mark next to the marks that everyone who came before left. Your mark will not wipe away anything–to think so is foolish. Your mark is added to the picture, just another imprint on the “life” of whatever it is you’re part of. Some marks will be big and loud. Some marks will be soft and small. Regardless of which yours is, it is a mere part of the whole that others will add to long after you have moved on.

So to all those who came before me, thank you. Thank you for what YOU created. Had you not paved the path before me I wouldn’t have been able to even GET to the bulldozer, let alone carry on all you did.